Panel: Quantum Theory and Free Will - Science and Nonduality (SAND)

Panel: Quantum Theory and Free Will

Video with

A panel discussion recorded at SAND14 with Chris Fields, Henry Stapp and Donald Hoffman.

Quantum theory incorporates two seemingly-contradictory ideas about free will. On the one hand, an observer can choose both the system to measure and the kind of measurement to make; given these choices, the theory predicts a probability distribution over the possible outcomes and nothing more. It is quantum indeterminism. On the other hand, a system that no one is looking at evolves through time according the dynamics that are perfectly deterministic. No one is “looking at” the universe as a whole – all observers are inside the universe by definition – so the time evolution of the whole universe must be perfectly deterministic. This clash between indeterminism and determinism is sharpened by the existence of a strong theorem, the Conway-Kochen “free will theorem,” that says that if human (or any other kind of) observers are assumed to have free will, everything
else in the universe, even electrons, has to be assumed to have free will, too.

Is this conflict real, or might it dissolve on further analysis? This panel will examine some of the strikingly different views advanced by physicists on this question, illuminating the concept and role of entanglement in the process.

#78 The Crisis in Gaza

Podcast with ,

From a recent Community Gathering having the difficult conversations about a horrific violence in Gaza.

Spirituality, Archetypes & Trauma

Video with

The treatment of trauma is fraught with many pitfalls and “tight corners.” Generally overlooked, however, is an innate relationship between trauma, archetypes and spirituality

#77 Regenerative Medicine

Podcast with

Exploring the frontiers of alternative medicine and healing modalities with renowned Cerebral Spiral Fluid expert.

What is Internal Family Systems?

Video with

Richard Schwartz, Ph.D, founding developer of IFS, speaks about Parts & Voices, the Self, Healing and how Internal Family Systems got its name.

Pixels, Patterns & Perspectives

Video with

Physicist and Author Sky Nelson-Isaacs urges us to see the world differently and consider how pixels and patterns converge to evoke a new perspective.

Entangled Nature:
Feminist Lessons
of Interconnectedness

Article by

Like the mycelium networks that exist under the Earth, sisterhood—holding each other in safe spaces, speaking out for one another— is also at times invisible but fundamental to the survival of us all

Time to Support Indigenous Science

Article by

Faced with the profound challenges of a rapidly changing environment, society needs other ways of knowing to illuminate a different way forward

Resonantly Perfect Solar System Found

Article by

Researchers have located "the perfect solar system", forged without the violent collisions that made our own a hotchpotch of different-sized planets

Support SAND with a Donation

Science and Nonduality is a nonprofit organization. Your donation goes towards the development of our vision and the growth of our community.
Thank you for your support!